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BasketballClint Capela and the Hawks in the NBA Cup semifinals
The Georgian franchise continues to surprise. After Boston and Cleveland, she beat the New York Knicks.
Clint Capela duels for the rebound with Karl-Anthony Towns.
Getty Images via AFPThe Hawks qualified for the NBA Cup semi-finals by beating the New York Knicks (108-100) on Wednesday. After coming out of a group with the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta is only two victories away from the holy grail.
The Georgian franchise will face Milwaukee in the semi-final on Saturday evening (Swiss time) in Las Vegas before a possible final on Wednesday in the gaming city. All matches in the NBA Cup, a competition created last year, also count for the regular season. , except the final.
At Madison Square Garden, the Hawks were initially clumsy in the first half (19 out of 52 shooting), and were trailing 54-47 at the break. Leader Trae Young raised the bar during the 3rd quarter (won 34-18) to accumulate 22 points and 11 assists.
“We saw that we were not favorites according to the odds of the punters, we knew how to play for each other,” he commented with a smirk, before pretending to roll the dice , a nod to Las Vegas, on the logo of the Knicks floor.
Still the holder, Clint Capela was, as often, impeccable in his role. The Geneva pivot scored 11 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in 25 minutes of playing time for a differential of +6. His Hawks are still 7th in the Eastern Conference with 14 wins for 12 losses.
In the other semi-final, the Oklahoma City Thunder will challenge the Houston Rockets, who narrowly beat the Golden State Warriors (91-90).
(afp/jsa)
